One would think President Donald
J. Trump would have other things on his mind. From Alabama to North Korea, the
president has been immersed with these developments. But he also has been
preoccupied by the Mueller investigation on possible collusion with Russia to
meddle and manipulate the 2016 presidential election.
If his staff had the gall to
show him the data, Trump could see now that he has the lowest approval ratings than
any other in modern history at this point in his term. In addition, the sexual misconduct
accusations on men across the private and public sector raises once again questions
about the president’s own accusers of sexual assault and impropriety, which
number at about 15 to date.
This would normally keep a
president pretty much tethered to these matters when he is not playing golf or
watching cable news. However, out of
left field, it seems, President Trump found still another way to spark
controversy, and as has become the norm lately, anger our allies when on
December 6, he formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The move reversed nearly seven
decades of American foreign policy and put in place a plan to move the United
States Embassy from Tel Aviv to the ferociously contested Holy City. Rather than being the bargaining chip it once
was as a key component of peace talks (now stalled), recognition of Jerusalem is
now off the table, and this order brought no concessions from Israel in return.
The U.S. is no longer seen (if it ever
were) as an impartial broker of a peace deal between Israel and the
Palestinians. Trump’s action confirms
it.
While the Embassy is not
actually moving to Jerusalem in the next few years, the decision was condemned
both at home and abroad with violent flare-ups taking place in the Palestinian
territories that threaten to spread elsewhere in the Middle East. Why would Trump do this at this time? I have a few theories—cynical as they may be. #hocopolitics
►To Distract. As the Mueller probe moves closer and closer
inside the White House and with former U.S. National Security Advisor Gen.
Michael Flynn probably already having turned state’s evidence against the
president and/or his family as part of a plea deal, things are getting pretty
dicey for Mr. Trump. When the news is
not favorable, he finds things to dominate the next news cycle and Jerusalem
seemed to have been pulled out of his bag of distracting tricks.
►To reinforce his call for a Muslim ban. As a candidate, Trump infamously announced a “total and
complete shutdown” of the entry of Muslims to the United States “until our
country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” He has found a way to impugn the reputation of
entire religion based on the actions of a radical fringe. Trump was fully aware that the controversial
recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would fuel unrest in the Palestinian
territories, and the footage of burning U.S. and Israeli flags promulgated by
the not-so-fake news would lather up his anti-Muslim base to provide additional
adrenaline to his travel ban from select predominant Muslim countries, which is
still being legally challenged.
►Religious fulfillment. The recognition of Jerusalem was a campaign promise from
Trump and a pledge to evangelical Christians. As a matter of fact, the White
House explained that this was the motive for the announcement. With the devout Vice President Mike Pence
heading over there, there is some credence to that motive.
►Drill baby drill! This
may be somewhat far-fetched but not entirely out of the question. The
recognition of Jerusalem could lead to a Mideast oil embargo against the U.S.
Already there is some chatter that economic sanctions be put in place against
us so this is a possibility. Should such
an action occur, unlikely as it may be,, Trump could use that as an excuse to
destroy even more public lands for the purpose of oil drilling.
All, any or none of these
reasons may explain why this action took place at this time. But if you have
other possibilities, please share them as comments on this post.
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